“No decisions tonight”

The headline says “CNN projects Obama clinches nomination”, but during what in many ways has sounded like a concession speech, Clinton has declared: “I will be making no decisions tonight”.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

2,132 comments on ““No decisions tonight””

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  3. Darling Edward (from previous thread):
    Fair enough that you think BHO is unelectable. We’ll know the answer to that in a few months.
    What I find bizarre is the weird wish-fulfillment stuff that you and the Troika have repeatedly swished across these posts – that the superdelegates should ignore the Democrat’s party processes and endorse the less-voted-for candidate – completely ignores the ruptures and fall-out that such a position entails.
    BHO has raised more money than any presidential candidate ever, from the largest number of individual donors ever. His candidacy has massively increased primary turnout, especially among young and black Americans. These people will vote in November.
    Had the supers been dumb enough to make your wishes real, the fissure in the Democratic Party would, I reckon, guarantee a McCain win. HRC couldn’t win the race fairly, and thus she could never win at all.
    PS: nominations for favourite r/R/Won-ism of the primaries? My vote goes to “comaparitively gentile”.

  4. What an insular, selfish “it’s all about me” speech.

    Once again the Clintons show what a steaming pile of selfish shit they are.

    Good riddance to them and their cronies the Bush’s.

  5. And now she is playing ‘Simply the Best’ in a moment reminiscent of David Brent’s motivational speech moment in The Office.

  6. Unbelievable.
    It’s still all about Hillary.
    Such grace, such style, such delusion and narcissm.
    And such an embarrassment to women.

  8. Obama has the numbers and is the nominee. Game Over.

    If the other team wants to keep running around the field after the siren has sounded then good for them. The winning team is moving on to the next game.

  10. She doesn’t need to make a decision. The people have decided. Thats how democracy works. I was hoping for Clinton but anyway time to move on. Good luck Barak against McCain.

    Despite having been a Clinton supporter I don’t think Obama is unelectable. Also I am quite disturbed by these “either my candidate or I’m not voting” democrats. McCain is not as evil as Bush but he is still stupid and the US economy is a mess. Democrats, whether Obama or Clinton supporters, should just suck it up, work together, and remember that the world needs a US president that is not hostage to big oil. Plus, several members of the prvious adminsitration need to be jailed, and McCain won’t do that.

  12. Hillary may be winning SD but she’s losing Custer County, which contains the site of Litle Big Horn – Custer’s last stand. How appropriate!

  14. Socrates –
    a man (I assume) of honour, despite your disappointment.
    A few others around here could take a leaf out of your book.
    Out of interest given your preference for Hillary , did your opinion of her change throughout the campaign?

  15. Obama has taken the stage.

    We will know in about two minutes whether or not it’s the exact same speech as leaked to the media. Which was a pretty poor effort if it was, kinda takes the fun out of it 😀

    Crowd is already going nuts, very stark difference to the Clinton crowd. Not unsurprisingly of course.

  17. Ok, and now the crowd just won’t shut up.

    Seriously people. Things to do, people to see.

    Now Obama is individually thanking each and every one of his immediate family members. Slowly moving on to his staff, team, supporters, blade of grass he stepped on outside, the mosquito which is hovering above his left shoulder…

  22. Compare the class and graciousness of Obama’s speech with the pathetic selfishness of Billary’s speech. That’s why he won.

  27. blah, blah, blah, blah, blah …. he can indicate the real change by 4 simple words: i will sign Kyoto. i will support him 120%

  29. Jen

    On Hillary, my view changed a little, though it was perhaps more that my opinion of Obama grew over time. I think (and still do) that Hillary CLinton is capable and could do the job, plus as a woman she has never gotten a fair go with US media and religeous bigots. But I think it got to her and I regret her having gone negative.

    As for Obama, at first I thought he was too light weight and just making populist statements without being able to fulfill expectations. I still have some worries in that regard. He is not lightweight but very smart. However to win the nomination he has appealed to the hopes of some people who have impossible demands – e.g. people in mid-west states who want their jobs saved, even though they are linked to protected, obsolete and heavily polluting industries. The only way they can be saved is if they are protected even more, but the US is in debt so it can’t afford to carry them. Obama is at some point going to have to level with them and say their jobs can’t be saved. What they really need is help (retraining etc) to change jobs to new industries.

    That being said, I really believe either Obama or Clinton can beat McCain. As long as all democrats are constructive and get behind him, it should be automatic. Unfortunately for US citizens, there is still plenty more bad economic and other news that will hit them before November (Afghanistan could be a real mess by the time the NH summer is over), and the democrats just have to remind them who is responsible for that and point out that the US can’t afford another Republican administration.

  30. What, even though he has more -gates than a row of cottages Finns? And a runaway bus that people keep getting thrown under? And even though he’s not a woman and has been so mean to Hillary? Don’t sellout so cheap man!

  31. What I don’t get is this “popular” vote stuff constantly spruiked about. With a mixture of caucuses and primary’s its already hard to say who had the most “popular” support – and then the fact that the primary’s seem to be a mix of closed, semi-closed, and open primary’s (meaning Republicans can vote for the Democratic Party nominee?? – how weird is that??) so you can’t even say its the most popular person in a particular state.

    Surely its up to the party, by whatever means, to determine who it’s candidate is, not the general public – otherwise surely they’d just run as Independents wouldn’t they? Or is it because people want to vote Republican or Democrat so you have to be aligned to a party label to get a good run – thus necessitating that you go through the party procedure.

    Otherwise its just a beauty contest, devoid of real politics and substance, just who can win the most votes based on who can convince people they’re the nicest person. At least a party has conference’s, caucuses, debates and policies that give a guide to voters (and their members!) about where they stand.

    So, to be honest, I don’t really care who wins the nomination – I think Hillary actually might be more “electable” – but then people voted for GWB, so I’m not convinced that “electability” is any more about politics than it is about getting your “tribe” (read party) into power, and not about trying to determine what IS in the “national interest” (to borrow a phrase from JWH), or what is going to be good for the people who’ve elected you. As for Obama, I hope he wins in November because I trust McCain less than I trust him – and I also hope that US politics (especially foreign policy) takes a progressive turn, but given history (especially from the Democratic Party in terms of getting involved in other people’s disputes) I suspect we may just see more of the same.

  32. Amigo, i just love the look on the pundits’ face on CNN and Faknews after hillary’s speech. they look like the stunt mullet. it’s a pity i cant see the obamabots’ face here.

  35. It’s over now Pancho. Before today, he needed 39.5 to win, now he’s 33 over the majority. There were only 31 pledged delegates at stake, and it’s now clear that he’s had the SDs stitched up for a while.

    Tonight is the beginning of the coalescing of the party that was needed, and by the end of the week, even Hillary will have joined in. I think tonight was a last minute pitch for VP… I think she may have considered conceding tonight, but the reports from AP pushed her to addressing her supporters in one final victory/campaign speech.

  36. Amigo, we have an agreement. Yes, i will Enjoy the ride.

    Wow, your candidate made some BIG BIG promises. just pray and pray he can deliver.

  38. Someone needs to explain to Hillary that it is not her decision to make.
    And it’s done.

    Obama’s Rally is amazing. Can’t think of anything else I’ve ever seen like it in terms of a political speech. The man is gracious, dignified, passionate and truly inspiring.
    We are watching the course of history changing. Finally.

  45. Looks like Hillary is still trying to get as much money out of her supporters as she can before she dumps them:

    “She also asked people to go to her Web site to “share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can.””

    The contrast between Obama’s and Hillary’s speeches could not be starker. While Hillary was trying to puff herself up, Obama talked about the future of the country. Is it any wonder why Obama won? Democrats have made the correct choice.

    One thing that has often bothered me about Hillary is her frequently repeated catchphrase, “we’ll take back the White House”. It always sounded like she was just running for President so she could get back into the White House to pursue various vendettas. An absolute turn-off. It further underscored the perceived selfishness of this woman.

    But thankfully, we have now dodged that bullet!

  48. (L) Won,

    Good one; entries are still being processed and confidently expect the pile to grow on the way to Nov.

    Today is ‘R’ free day. Respect.

  50. I’m looking forward to the discussion now turning to Obama vs. McCain. Will be interesting to see the shape and form that Obama’s campaign takes. His team were incredibly well organised for the primaries. I expect they have a detailed plan for the general.

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